


By the Book

by HashtagTheyFucked



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Academy Era, F/F, Flirting, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, School, Sibling Incest, Sister-Sister Relationship, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Tutoring, hot for teacher adjacent, hot for tutor, which is almost the hot for teacher trope but not rlly so imma call it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-10-27 00:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20751686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagTheyFucked/pseuds/HashtagTheyFucked
Summary: “Zelda...” Hilda began, not wanting to offend her sister, “Are you trying to ask me to tutor you?”In which Hilda tutors Zelda in bubbling/potions in exchange for flirting lessons. What could go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Shakespeare when Juliet tells Romeo "you kiss by th' book" bc I'm corny like that. Sorry not sorry.
> 
> For the together-as-sisters september challenge where the prompts were 'academy or hot for teacher'

They were in the east corner of the library, at Zelda’s insistence. She said it was the most secluded wing, the part of the place where people were least likely to come across the two of them. Hilda didn't ask how Zelda knew this, but she could guess. 

Zelda had made it sound like they were doing something illicit, with all the secrecy and sneaking around she insisted on. 

Hilda had rolled her eyes, but sighed and agreed to meet in the dusty mortal literature section during her one free period on Wednesday afternoon. 

Zelda had already been there with her notebook open and a Bubbling textbook next to it, sitting at a table reserved for group studying, when Hilda arrived. She looked up sharply at the sounds of Hilda’s footsteps.

“Finally,” was Zelda’s only greeting.

“Sorry, I had to come all the way from the Conjuring commons,” Hilda said, slightly breathless as she put down her bag and the two textbooks she was carrying in her arms.

Zelda folded her hands in front of her and sat up very straight. 

“Sister,” she said, very seriously.

Hilda waited for a beat, still catching her breath, but then realized Zelda expected a response.

“... Yes?” she said as she cautiously pulled out the chair opposite Zelda and took a seat.

“I expect you're wondering why I’ve asked you to meet me here,”

Hilda snorted a quiet laugh at “asked”. Zelda had all but forced Hilda here, threatening to kill her right off the bat if she didn't come. Zelda cut her a sharp glare before continuing.

“Professor Thornton has given my Intermediate Bubbling class one test, three formal quizzes, and two pop quizzes.” She paused at the end of this list and looked down at her folded hands before continuing reluctantly. “I haven’t exactly gotten straight A’s on these assessments and he _ suggested _ ,” she sneered the word as if it were a personal affront that any suggestion might have made its way across her path, before she shuddered out the last words of her thought, “I find… _ a tutor _.”

She finally looked back at Hilda, a look of annoyance on her face, as if Hilda had been the one to say Zelda needed a tutor.

Hilda still wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say, so she settled on what she hoped was a fairly neutral observation.

“That’s quite a lot of tests and quizzes to fit into the first three weeks of school,”

“I know!” Zelda exclaimed exasperatedly, seeming to take Hilda’s words as an agreement of sorts. “It’s as if he thinks we don’t have other subjects to think about and study for. And every single class he drones on and on about how important and useful each and every potion we’re making is,” she scoffed, “as if someone like me would actually ever need a benediximus draught. I make my own luck. Besides, you can always just pay someone to brew things like that for you,” she finished disdainfully, flipping a wave of red hair over her shoulder.

“Right,” Hilda said, though privately she thought that a benediximus drought was quite a useful thing to know how to whip up.

“Exactly,” Zelda said with an air of finality, as if they had decided on something, before pushing the Bubbling textbook in front of her across the table towards Hilda. “So.” She said and looked at Hilda expectantly.

“... So?” Hilda repeated, very confused as to what Zelda wanted her to do with the book. 

“So,” Zelda said slowly in a tone that suggested she thought Hilda was being purposefully obtuse, “where do we start?”

“Zelda...” Hilda began, not wanting to offend her sister, “Are you trying to ask me to tutor you?”

Zelda rolled her eyes yet again, “Obviously. I just did.”

“Well, you didn’t, actually,” Hilda heard herself say before she thought better of it. Zelda gave her a deeply unimpressed look. “Ask, that is,” Hilda said in a smaller voice, realizing as she said it that her clarification didn’t really help with her sister’s obvious annoyance.

Zelda took another dramatic deep breath and then leaned forward. She enunciated her words very clearly and spoke very slowly, as if she thought Hilda didn’t speak English very well when she said, “If you do this for me, Hildegard, then _ I _ will do something for _ you _.”

It was Hilda’s turn to look unimpressed. “Really? Bribing me is easier for you than just saying please?”

“It’s not a bribe,” Zelda retorted quickly, “It’s payment for services rendered.”

Hilda was about to retort that it most certainly sounded like a bribe, but something in Zelda’s eyes stopped her. Hilda couldn’t place the look that had briefly flashed over her sister’s face, but it held some unfamiliar vulnerability that Hilda couldn’t bring herself to ignore. 

“And how, exactly, do you suggest you’d be paying me? I don’t need any homework help."

Zelda’s cheeks flushed, probably in anger that Hilda had so blatantly brought up the fact that Zelda needed help, was less than perfect in some way. Her voice didn’t sound angry, though, when she answered.

“There are plenty of things I could teach you, sister. I never said anything about homework.”

Hilda felt her cheeks flame at the low timbre of Zelda’s voice.

“Oh?” was all she could think to say.

Zelda leaned forward over the table and Hilda had to restrain herself from looking down the front of her sister’s blouse, forcing herself to maintain eye-contact, even though it made her feel even more awkward than she already did. Zelda smirked at her from under her lashes, even as she blushed, and Hilda felt suddenly very out of her depth. She felt the warm pressure of her sister’s hand being gently placed on her forearm and her stomach did a strange, though not wholly unwelcome somersault. 

“I know you’re still a virgin, Hildie.” Hilda could only sputter, but Zelda went on, her eyes sparkling with mirth, “You’ve never even gone on a date, have you? Or been kissed?”

“W-what— Zelda, that’s none of your— if I wanted to, that is— I— I—”

“It’s alright, sister,” Zelda said in a warm, if slightly condescending voice. She gently stroked her thumb over Hilda’s arm. “You know I could help you with that, if you want me to, that is.”

Hilda felt her whole face burning with embarrassment and confused lust, all the way to the tips of her ears. This was too much for her. Suddenly her embarrassment morphed into anger. How dare Zelda tease her like this! No, she refused to give Zelda any more ammunition to use against her. She didn’t have to take this kind of treatment, whatever it was. 

“Zelda Phiona Spellman!” Zelda jerked back at Hilda’s outburst, snatching her hand from Hilda’s arm as she went. She clearly had not expected Hilda to react so strongly. “How _ dare _you,” Hilda went on, “I, I— What are you even suggesting? That I, that we—” Hilda didn’t even know what she thought Zelda was suggesting, or what she was offended by in her tone. She only knew that Zelda must somehow be making fun of her or toying with her. There was no way that Zelda could be suggesting what Hilda had momentarily hoped she was. And since there was absolutely no way Zelda was being sincere, this indecipherable conversation felt far too close to being pitied or even rejected.

Hilda stood up, surprising herself with how quickly moved and nearly knocking her chair over behind her as she did so.

“Sister,” Zelda began.

“No, Zelda! I know you’re more experienced than me—”

“Keep your voice down—”

“But I don’t need you to, to,” she floundered for words to express herself, “to toy with me, or, or make fun of me—”

“Hilda, that’s not—”

“Why don’t you find someone else to torment, for once, because I’m sick and tired of it!” And she slung her bag over her shoulder and snatched up her books.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Hildegard!” Zelda cried, forgetting that they were in a library and standing up too.

“Oh, why don’t you go fuck youself, Zelda!” And Hilda practically ran away, furiously wiping at the hot tears she felt on her cheeks.

As she turned the corner, she caught a glimpse of Zelda, still standing behind the table, fists clenched, looking on the verge of angry tears herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be perfectly honest, I only have a vague outline for where this is going, so I have no guarantees for you about when this will be updated. That being said, pls leave a comment and tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Hilda got to her next class a full twenty-five minutes early, still fuming. She slammed her heavy textbooks down on a desk in the empty classroom, trying to take out her frustration on the polished wood of the desk somehow. She felt like screaming and she also felt like crying and she wasn’t sure which impulse would win out. She collapsed into a chair and realized, actually, that she was exhausted. The fight went out of her and she began to dread her trip home on Friday evening with her siblings. She was sure she’d now be spending a good portion of her weekend in the Cain pit, and she couldn’t help but feel that maybe this time she deserved it.

Why, oh why, did she always let Zelda rile her up so much? She tried to go over their conversation in her head. Zelda had hardly even teased her, compared to many, many times in the past. She began to worry her lower lip anxiously. Had she made too much of a fuss over nothing? Had she given herself away?

She thought about how Zelda’s hand had felt when she had deliberately placed it over Hilda’s forearm— the warm, firm pressure, coupled with the intense way Zelda had been looking at her made a swarm of bats flutter and swoop pleasantly in Hilda’s belly. It had felt, for a second, like Zelda had been... flirting with her?

Hilda groaned and buried her face in her hands. 

_ Oh, what do you know about any of that, you ninny _, she thought angrily to herself. She was letting her feelings carry her away again.

Hilda had loved Zelda for as long as she could remember. More specifically, she had been _ in love _ with Zelda since she was about ten, had wanted to kiss her since she was twelve, had recently started imagining quite a bit more than kissing in the privacy of her own thoughts before sleep claimed her.

She knew, somewhere deep in her heart, that Zelda did love her too, but once Zelda had started killing her regularly, it was a hard thing to remember. When they were small, Hilda remembered how she used to follow Zelda around, trying to do the things Zelda did, trying to be like her and make her proud. And her big sister hadn’t merely tolerated Hilda, she had lead her by the hand, doted on her, encouraged her, played games with her. It hadn’t been so long ago that they had been best friends, as well as sisters.

Once upon a time it had been the two of them against the world. They had done everything together, until gradually, they hadn’t. Zelda had slowly started to grow up and leave Hilda behind. Hilda wasn’t even sure exactly when it had started. It wasn’t until she was a bit older that Zelda’s attention began to feel like scraps Hilda had to beg for.

Suddenly, Zelda had started shoving Hilda off the bed any time she got too close to Zelda on winter nights when they slept together for warmth. The first time it had happened, Hilda had stayed on the floor and cried until Zelda had sighed and slid off the bed to give her a slightly awkward apology hug. They had both gotten back into Zelda’s bed, but Zelda had kept to her side and Hilda had been too annoyed with her sister to try to snuggle her again that night. They had once loved to share Father’s big comfy armchair in front of the fireplace, but one day Hilda had tried to sit on Zelda’s lap there, as she’d done countless times before, and she’d gotten a sharp pinch to the side. If Hilda ever got to Father’s chair first and patted her lap for Zelda to sit in, Zelda would abruptly change tack and sit on the sofa, or even the floor, rather than with her baby sister. Slowly, Hilda began to notice that there were no more secretly shared sweets, no more hand holding as they walked through the woods, not even any more playing with Hilda’s hair any longer than was necessary to help her braid it for black mass.

It had almost been a relief when Zelda had left to go to The Academy. Hilda had thought that maybe their relationship could start anew when she joined Zelda there, but on Hilda's first night, Zelda had lead her group of friends in Hilda’s harrowing and Hilda had been forced to put aside any hope of becoming friends with her sister again.

Of course, the two of them were still sisters, and if anybody but Zelda dared to bully Hilda, or even look at her wrong, they would find themselves the unfortunate victim of a Zelda Spellman original hex. 

Every once in a while, it seemed like Zelda might love Hilda back the way Hilda secretly craved, but… Had that afternoon in the library been one of those times? Or had Zelda just been trying to manipulate Hilda for her own gain in the way that was easiest for her? 

Maybe Hilda was reading far too much into the situation. Maybe all Zelda wanted was a tutor and there was nothing more to it than that. Hilda had been too wrapped up in her own feelings to be able to properly read Zelda. 

She tried to think it through logically, though she knew her thoughts were still muddled and distracted.

It was true that Hilda held the title of best bubbler in the upper school. It was also true that there were plenty of other areas where Zelda’s skills far exceeded Hilda’s, not all of them academic. Maybe Zelda had simply been making Hilda a genuine offer for what she considered fair payment for tutoring.

The question then became, what exactly was Zelda offering Hilda?

Zelda’s measured, low voice ran through Hilda’s head, _ There are plenty of things I could teach you, sister _, and Hilda shivered. 

Hilda felt the phantom touch of Zelda’s hand on her forearm again, and closed her eyes. She imagined Zelda’s fingers trailing up her arm, over her shoulder to her neck to stroke and massage the sensitive skin under her ear. She had occasionally seen Zelda stroking her own neck in a similar way with glassy, unfocused eyes. It was true that Zelda was more popular and more experienced than Hilda, but no one had ever accused her of being subtle. Hilda knew the kind of thoughts her sister was entertaining as she dreamily gazed off into the middle distance. 

_ You’ve never even gone on a date, have you? … Or been kissed? _

The way Zelda’s voice had rasped over the word “kissed” echoed in Hilda’s mind. What would Zelda’s lips feel like against her pulse point? She realized her fingers had drifted to her neck to brush over the skin she imagined Zelda kissing. 

Hilda was startled out of her daydreaming, by Shirley Jackson entering the classroom, talking rather loudly and animatedly at two of her friends. Hilda quickly snatched her hand away from her neck, clasping it tightly with her other in front of her. Hilda gave the other girls a weak smile when they greeted her and did her best to join in their conversation. It might have interested her on another day, but she couldn’t focus properly, not even when the professor came in and class began. She’d have to borrow someone’s notes.

Thank Satan this class was her last one of the day. 

By the end of the lesson, Hilda had managed to pull herself together enough to chat with her friends like a normal person before heading to her dorm to start on homework. At dinner, however, it all came rushing back. 

Hilda couldn’t keep her eyes off of Zelda from across the dining hall. Shirley asked Hilda if she was okay, but didn’t press when Hilda said she was fine. Hilda excused herself as soon as she could, skipping dessert, and rushing back to the dorm, glad that she had finished all her pressing assignments due the next day before the meal.

A glance around the room, along with a quickly muttered revealing spell, told her that the dorm was empty when she got there. She breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the door to close it, hiked up her skirt, and shoved her hand unceremoniously down her bloomers. Zelda had been entirely too beautiful this evening in the dining hall as she threw her head back and laughed at something Faustus Blackwood had said. Hilda had watched, as if it was happening in slow motion, as Zelda then put her hand on Blackwood’s arm _ exactly the way she’d done with Hilda in the library _. 

Hilda moaned quietly as her head gently thudded back against the door, her hand moving erratically between her legs.

She knew what she would say to Zelda come tomorrow. She also knew that she was completely, utterly, hopelessly screwed.

By the time the rest of her dormmates were back from dinner, Hilda was already in bed, still thinking of Zelda and pretending to be asleep.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The next day at breakfast, Hilda nervously made her way through the dining hall over to Zelda, who was sitting with her usual group of upperclassmen. Hilda saw her sister notice her as she walked over, but Zelda pointedly ignored her when she got to the table. Hilda had to clear her throat to make Zelda look back at her.

“What?” Zelda snapped, glaring at Hilda.

“Erm, could we talk, Zelds? About, uh, yesterday… In the library?”

Zelda shoved her empty cereal bowl in front of one of her hangers-on for him to put away, and dragged Hilda away from the table by her cardigan.

“Well?” She said, once they were far enough away from any prying ears.

“Well,” Hilda started nervously, fiddling with one button on her sweater, “I was just, uh, thinking,” she felt her face begin to heat up as she remembered just what her ‘thinking’ had entailed last night. 

“Spit it out, Hilda,” Zelda said through gritted teeth.

“I-guess-I-can-tutor-you-in-bubbling-if-you-teach-me-how-to-flirt,” she said in a rush.

“Excuse me?”

“That is,” Hilda was quick to qualify, “if you still want me…” Zelda’s eyebrows went up and Hilda felt herself get redder, “to tutor you, I mean…”

Zelda let her suffer in an uneasy limbo for a moment, regarding Hilda with an inscrutable expression on her face. Hilda wanted to take it back, thinking she had missed her chance with her foolish outburst the day before. She opened her mouth to rescind her proposal, to say she didn’t even know what, when Zelda cut her off. Hilda saw her mouth move, but the anxious blood rushing in her ears obscured whatever Zelda had just said.

“Come again?” 

Zelda’s impenetrable face returned to its familiar annoyed default.

“I said ‘yes’.”

“Oh,” Hilda said, slightly surprised that it had been that easy. She had been prepared for a bit of grovelling, but she wasn’t about to complain. “So, uh, when should we…”

“Fourth period. Today.”

Hilda had planned in the back of her mind to use that particular free to finish her Hexing report, on the off chance that Zelda did kill her over the weekend, but it looked like that contingency plan was no longer needed.

“It’s a date,” she heard herself say. Zelda nodded tersely, opened her mouth as if to say something else, snapped it shut again and gave one last firm nod before spinning on her heel and walking back to her table.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which actual tutoring happens even though this author knows nothing about making potions.

When fourth period came around, Zelda found Hilda already seated at the same table they had met up at the day before. She was just pulling out her Bubbling notebook from her bag when Zelda smoothly sat down next to her. Zelda smirked when Hilda jumped slightly. She apparently hadn’t heard her sister approaching.

“Sister,” Hilda greeted her, pulling herself together faster than Zelda would have liked. She would never admit it, but this whole tutoring business made her rather nervous and she would prefer it if Hilda would have the decency to be a bit nervous herself.

Zelda gave her a nod of acknowledgement, deciding to throw herself into it.

“Let’s get started, Hilda. _ If _your tutoring proves to actually be helpful, I will begin to teach you the basics of flirting. Satan knows we’ll have to go slow with you,”

“Right.” Hilda said far too calmly for Zelda’s taste, “What is your class working on right now?”

Zelda puffed out an exasperated breath before saying blandly, “Memory potions and forgetfulness draughts.”

“Ah!” For some Satan-forsaken reason, this seemed to excite Hilda. Then Zelda remembered that a forgetfulness draught was what won Hilda her second intramural best bubbler award last year. She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the mingled relief and extra embarrassment that this fact brought her. Of course.

“Let’s start with forgetfulness draughts. Once you have that down, the theory is the same for memory potions.” Hilda seemed to settle herself farther in her seat. She almost seemed to vibrate with enthusiasm and Zelda tried to ignore how cute she found it as Hilda went on. “Now, they can be tricky if you don’t pay attention to the boiling point, but you can actually monitor that with a pine spoon over the cauldron to stop it boiling over. Technically, most softwoods work, but Granny used to swear by pine so I figure…”

Zelda’s notebook was out in a flash and she began taking notes on what Hilda was saying, minus the unnecessary family history.

Hilda was in her element talking about cauldron thickness, and mincing versus dicing, and when to add a dash of turmeric if you don’t have fresh ingredients. Zelda dutifully wrote it all down, surprised at how much clearer Hilda made everything sound. Professor Thornton’s droning voice never helped the already complicated subject make any sense. Hilda even taught her an, admittedly rather clever, mnemonic device she and her little friends had apparently made up the year before to help remember the subtle differences between the two potions. Zelda was sure Hilda had done the brunt of the creative work on that one-- the girls Hilda seemed to spend time with in her year seemed far below her sister in terms of intelligence. 

When the period was almost up, Hilda turned to Zelda. “Do you know when the test on this is?” she asked.

“Tomorrow,” Zelda responded glumly, feeling her mood worsening at the unwelcome reminder.

“Oh, that soon?”

Zelda nodded as the ball of anxiety tightened in her stomach for a moment. Hilda must have seen something on her face, because she leaned towards Zelda, smiling gently.

“Hey, you’re getting it, Zelds,” she said softly, her sweet voice filled to the brim with faith and encouragement. “I think you’ll do fine.” Hilda tentatively put her hand over Zelda’s on the table and gave it a little squeeze.

Zelda’s heart swelled with affection for her idiotically optimistic younger sister even as her stomach flip flopped with anxiety of a totally different sort.

Zelda looked at Hilda’s hand on hers and gave her sister a terse smile before sliding her hand away and folding it with the other in her lap.

The air between them suddenly felt charged awkward, but Zelda didn’t quite know how to fix it. Before she could think of what to say, Hilda stepped in, changing the subject.

“What do you have next?”

“Another free until lunch. You?”

“Me too,” said Hilda.

There was a beat where they both paused, not wanting their time together to end, but neither quite sure what to say.

“If you want to stop for the day--” Zelda started.

“Do you want to practice?” Hidla suddenly blurted, interrupting her sister.

“What, right now?” Zelda asked, raising an eyebrow. She saw Hilda blushing under her quiestioning gaze, but Hilda managed to soldier on.

“I mean, if you want, that is… Professor Thornton lets me use an empty classroom sometimes, just for fun, and if we go right now, you’ll have time to practice adding the ingredients. I mean, we won’t be able to let it simmer properly, but I’ve made this one-- both of them, actually-- anyways, I’ve made them both loads of times so I’ll be able to tell you whether or not--”

“Hilda.” She stopped short at Zelda’s tone, but her Zelda had to fight back a smile as she said, “You’re babbling.”

Hilda smiled sheepishly back at Zelda.

“Shall we, then?” Hilda said hopefully.

“Let’s.” And Zelda started packing up her bookbag.

The walk over was amiable enough, and Hilda quizzed Zelda some more as they passed through the mostly empty halls. Zelda knew her tone as she recited the mnemonic device back to her sister suggested she was the one tutoring Hilda, but Hilda didn’t seem to mind. When Zelda finished her recitation without a single mistake, Hilda squealed in excitement and graced Zelda with a tiny round of applause.

“Hurrah and huzzah, I think you’ve got it!” She exclaimed before clasping her hands under her chin as she gazed proudly at her big sister. Zelda felt the tips of her ears heat up in embarrassed pleasure at Hilda’s reaction.

“Oh, shut up,” Zelda said through a sheepish smile.

Hilda only laughed, swinging her arms gaily as they walked on.

Zelda was surprised at how natural it felt to be walking through the halls of the Academy and smiling with Hilda. It reminded her of old times, back when they were children. She could almost forget how embarrassing it was that she needed her baby sister’s help to pass this detestable class. She was having such a surprisingly pleasant time, in fact, that her unfortunate and apparently unshakable infatuation with said baby sister had momentarily fled her consciousness. It came rushing back to her, however, when Hilda’s shoulder bumped into Zelda’s. On the rebound their knuckles had gently brushed together, grazing against each other for the briefest of moments.

Zelda inhaled sharply and immediately gritted her teeth in order to try not to let any other tells slip. She had to resist the urge to shove Hilda’s shoulder back ten times as hard. She contented herself with merely imagining her retaliation, the image of Hilda stumbling sideways across the hallway making her smirk and bringing back her good spirits.

When they got to the correct corridor Hilda lead Zelda to the professor’s office door and knocked. Zelda hung back and tried to look casual as she examined her cuticles. She didn’t want to have to make eye contact with Professor Thornton after he had so thoroughly rejected her advances the other day. It was even more mortifying knowing that he apparently favored Hilda freely. Zelda knew it would never cross her sweet sister’s mind to even lightly flirt with a teacher for better marks-- not that Hilda would even know how. Zelda’s life was so unfair; Hilda never had to work for anything.

“Enter,” Thornton said from inside his office.

Hilda opened the door confidently, as if she’d been to visit the old warlock a hundred times. 

“Hi Professor,”she said brightly. From the other side of the hallway, Zelda looked up from her fingernails to catch a glimpse of the dimpled smile she knew would be slapped across Hilda’s face. She saw Hilda in profile as she faced the professor’s desk at the side of the room, so Zelda was only graced with one adorable dimple, rather than the usual two. 

“Ah, my favorite Spellman!” Zelda heard him say and quickly returned her attention to examining her hands. “Don’t tell your brother I said that, though,” he said conspiratorially. 

Even though she was studiously glaring at her fingers, Zelda still caught Hilda’s quick, apprehensive glance over at her in her peripheral vision. She was glad she was out of sight of Thornton.

Hilda looked back at the warlock and giggled, the sound a little higher pitched than usual. Zelda recognized it as false, though she thought it would probably sound genuine to someone who didn’t grow up with Hilda.

“Oh, Professor, you’ll make me blush!” Hilda said, her voice still pitched a bit higher than normal. Zelda looked up quizzically at the unfamiliar tone.

“What can I help you with, my dear?” she heard.

“Well,” Hilda started, drawing the one word out as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind one ear, “I was wondering if I might pop in to one of your classrooms with my sister and have a little potions practice with her for the period?” 

Zelda wished Hilda had left her out of it. It was bad enough to be told she needed tutoring, she didn’t want Thornton to know she had actually taken his suggestion. 

Professor Thornton cleared his throat. “Your sister’s with you, is she?” 

Zelda crossed her arms in front of herself and glared silently through the open doorway, just in case he poked his head out.

“Mmhmm,” Hilda hummed her confirmation as she clasped her hands behind her back, inadvertently pushing her chest out towards their teacher. Zelda glared harder.

“I don’t see why not, Miss Spellman, provided you clean up after yourselves. Third door on the right should suit you nicely.”

Hilda beamed. “Thanks very much, Professor!” 

Zelda pushed off of the wall she was leaning on and began walking toward the room without waiting for Hilda. She heard Hilda trotting along behind her, slightly out of breath. They walked in silence to the classroom as Zelda thought about the interaction she had just witnessed.


	4. Chapter 4

Zelda watched as Hilda bustled around the room, collecting ingredients from various cabinets and shelves. Hilda bent at the waist to look for something in a cabinet under the countertop and Zelda was presented with the beautifully curved roundness of Hilda’s ass in the air directly in front of her. If she concentrated, she swore she could see the outline of Hilda’s underthings beneath the material of her skirt. She felt herself blushing and quickly glanced at the door to make sure it was closed, even though she knew it was. It wouldn’t do for anyone to catch her staring at her own sister’s ass, no matter how objectively lust-worthy said ass was.

Hilda straightened up, arms full of ingredients.

“Alright, Zelds,” she said, dumping everything on the table in front of Zelda, “First, I want you to divide these ingredients up. Everything for memory potions on the right, forgetfulness draughts on the left. Common ingredients in the center. Once that’s done we’ll get started on the actual brewing.”

Zelda nodded and did as she was told, concentrating and occasionally mouthing the mnemonic device Hilda had taught her as she went. Hilda was an irritatingly competent teacher, and Zelda was torn between being impressed with her younger sister, and being angry with herself that she found bubbling so difficult. 

The fact that Hilda was so infernally  _ good _ at bubbling actually turned Zelda on somewhat and it made concentrating in the close quarters of the empty classroom all the more difficult. 

She tried to focus on what Hilda was telling her about memory potions as she began to slice up fish scales, when Hilda interrupted herself.

“Zelds, if you cut them lengthwise, they come out more uniform and they’re easier to measure.”

Zelda dutifully adjusted the thin silvery scale in front of her.

“Here,” Hilda said, putting down the mortar and pestle she had been working with, “I mean like this,” and suddenly Hilda was behind Zelda, one hand covering hers on the paring knife and the other sliding around her waist to pick up a fresh scale and place it on the cutting board.

Zelda felt her heart thumping hard and fast in her chest and for a second she irrationally wondered if Hilda would be able to hear it from where she stood behind her. She stood very still, enveloped by Hilda’s warmth, and watched the hands moving in front of her. Hilda breathed in and her breasts brushed Zelda’s shoulder blades. Zelda’s one free hand, still clutching the single fish scale, twitched involuntarily.

“Careful you don’t crush them, Zelds, otherwise it’s heaven getting them to mix properly,” and Hilda’s other hand moved in to gently disengage Zelda’s suddenly tense muscles.

Together they placed the scale down in the correct position and Hilda guided Zelda’s hand still holding the knife to cut it lengthwise.

“There,” Hilda said, her voice slightly more breathy than it had been a second ago, “that’s much better.” And she released Zelda’s hands.

For one mad second, Zelda thought Hilda was about to kiss her shoulder, or maybe the back of her neck, and she held her breath. All Hilda did, however, was take a step away and pick up the mortar and pestle again, going back to grinding ingredients next to Zelda. 

Was Hilda blushing? It did feel rather warm in the room now.

Hilda looked down at the work in front of her, letting her hair fall over her face and Zelda only realized she was staring when the urge to tuck the blonde lock behind Hilda’s ear came over her. She shook her head a little to try to clear the silly, tender thoughts from her mind and refocused on slicing the scales the way Hilda just had shown her. They worked in relative silence for a few minutes before Zelda could fully get her heart rate under control. 

She thought again of the way Hilda had asked Thornton if they could use the room for practice. It wasn’t the most subtle work Zelda had ever seen, but neither was it overt or vulgar. For the first time, Zelda wondered if maybe Hilda  _ did _ have an idea of what she was doing when it came to flirting. 

No. Impossible. She shook her head a bit, scoffing at herself. If that were true, it would mean that Hilda’s little hands-on demonstration just now was something other than completely innocent (however it may have felt to Zelda). 

The unfortunate fact of the matter was that there was no way Hilda understood the effect she could have on people. Perhaps Hilda simply had uniquely good instincts when it came to interacting with leering old professors, and uniquely inconvenient tactile tendencies when it came to older sisters.

There was one way to find out, she supposed.

“You know, Hilda, you make that whole  _ innocent-virgin _ thing work for you,” Zelda said offhandedly, breaking the silence. 

“The whole what?” Hilda said, looking up quizzically. 

“With Thornton, for instance, when you asked to use this classroom,” Zelda went on as if Hilda hadn’t spoken, “It was a little clumsy, hardly an expert attempt, but it did what it needed to in the end.”

“Attempt? At what?”

“Flirting, of course,” Zelda responded, watching Hilda’s expression carefully.

“You think I was  _ flirting _ with Professor Thornton?” Hilda exclaimed incredulously.

Zelda looked at her seriously.

“Weren’t you?”

Hilda’s face scrunched up in an adorably exaggerated expression of disbelief. “Ew! Zelda! Don’t be disgusting!”

“I’m not saying you would have followed through. You don’t have to be attracted to someone to flirt with them,” Zelda said calmly, “You don’t even have to necessarily like them.”

Hilda looked at her like she had just suggested that Satan wasn’t really their Dark Lord in Hell.

“Do you…” Hilda’s eyebrows furrowed as she went on, ‘Do you not like the people you flirt with, Zelds?”

“All I’m saying, Hilda,” Zelda said, feeling a little defensive and ignoring her sister’s question, “is that though the attempt was inexpert, we have a solid base upon which to build.” 

“I can promise you, sister, I was  _ not _ flirting with our professor!”

Zelda appraised her coolly. Was Hilda telling the truth? She usually did. Zelda decided to believe her. 

“Well, in that case, you need to start being more aware of how your actions come across.” Zelda tried to ignore the way her face was heating up as she thought of Hilda’s actions a few moments ago. “You could give someone the wrong impression.”

“Did it really look like I was flirting with him, Zelds?”

Hilda was looking at Zelda with trusting, worried eyes.

“No,” Zelda said, her immediate instinct being to comfort her little sister. “Well, a little,” she amended. “But don’t worry,” she went on at Hilda’s horrified look, “no one would think you were sleeping with him for your grades.”

Hilda’s eyebrows shot up so fast that Zelda had to work to tamp down a laugh. It was always fun to scandalize her sister.

“Right,” Hilda said and she cleared her throat. “Well, the period’s almost over, so…” she trailed off.

Zelda glanced up at the clock on the wall. Hilda was right, it was almost time for lunch. 

“Marvelous, I’m starved,” Zelda said, grabbing her bookbag and slinging it over her shoulder. She looked at Hilda and smiled. Hilda smiled back, though she looked at bit surprised. “This was very helpful, Hilda,” Zelda said, and turned, making her way to the door.

She heard Hilda make an annoyed noise behind her. 

“Don’t bother helping to clean up or anything,” Hilda said to Zelda’s back.

Zelda didn’t slow her pace. “Thanks, Hilda, I won’t,” she called over her shoulder as she left the classroom. She heard Hilda’s muttered “Typical,” and she smiled as she walked towards the dining hall, already thinking of the chocolate truffles The Academy often had for dessert on Thursdays.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it's worth the wait!

Hilda was walking down the hall to her first class, glad that it was Friday and already looking forward to Mother’s home cooked dinner, when she spotted Zelda walking to her own first class of the day. The sight of her sister made her smile and Hilda waved enthusiastically at her. Zelda didn’t seem to notice her.

“Good luck on your test today, Zelds!” Hilda called out, still waving, just in case Zelda hadn’t seen her.

Zelda looked over at Hilda, disdain written clearly all over her face. She rolled her eyes and didn’t respond. Hilda’s smile faltered. Zelda didn’t even slow her pace as she breezed past, knocking her shoulder into Hilda’s and making Hilda drop her books in the middle of the hallway.

Hilda sighed as she bent to pick up her things. Back to business as usual, then.

Yesterday, in the library and the classroom, it had been too deceptively easy to believe that things were changing between them. Hilda shook her head at herself for being so naive. One pleasant day with Zelda, a few hours, really, does not repair a relationship. Hilda had gotten her hopes up, yet again. She hugged her textbooks to her chest as she made her way to class, willing herself not to cry, not to care.

It had been years of this push and pull of affection and indifference. Sometimes Hilda felt like she had emotional whiplash from trying in vain to adjust to Zelda’s mercurial moods.

She resolved to try to put her sister out of her mind and simply make it through the day. Just a handful of classes left and she’d be on her way home, walking through the Greendale woods with only her Hexing report to worry about.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


When the end of the day finally arrived, Hilda packed up her bookbag with everything she’d need to study over the weekend, and made her way to the front steps of The Academy. Edward was already there, sitting on one side of the stone stairs, scribbling away in his journal. Her older brother mostly ignored her as she greeted him and joined him on the steps. 

“Hello,” he said absently without looking up.

Zelda arrived a moment later and immediately lit a cigarette. Only once she had taken the first drag of it did she speak. 

“Well?” She said impatiently, “Are we walking? Or would you two prefer to spend all weekend on these damned steps?”

Hilda jumped up instinctively at Zelda’s acerbic tone, but Edward muttered a distracted, “Just a moment,” as he finished writing down his last thought. 

Zelda rolled her eyes at him and gave Hilda an exasperated look. Hilda tried to tamp down her pleased smile. 

Finally, Edward closed his notebook and stood up, tucking it away in his bag. “Ladies? Shall we?” He said and started walking. 

Zelda blew out a stream of smoke at his retreating back. “When did he become so pompous?” Zelda muttered. 

“Probably before either of us was born,” Hilda offered.

Zelda puffed out a smokey laugh before following Edward into the woods.

The weekend at home passed fairly uneventfully for the three Spellman siblings. They ate, they slept, they updated Mother and Father about school; Edward, of course, was the shining star and he and his studies dominated much of the conversations at the Spellman house. When Mother asked Zelda about her studies, Zelda left out the fact that she had gotten herself a tutor, much less that the tutor was her younger sister. She shot Hilda a glare that clearly said not to mention anything when Father eventually turned his attention away from Edward and on to his youngest daughter.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


On Monday morning, the siblings set off for school together. They walked quietly through the woods with Edward a few paces ahead of his sisters. As their feet crunched through the first fallen leaves, Zelda spoke. 

“I’ll likely get my Bubbling test back today,” she said breezily. 

Hilda looked over in surprise at Zelda, who was smoking her first cigarette of the day with one hand and carefully studying the cuticles of her other hand. Her sister was clearly nervous but trying to hide it.

“That’ll be exciting, Zelda,” Hilda said, trying to keep any excess enthusiasm out of her voice. She knew how easy it was to annoy Zelda early in the morning, especially if she was feeling vulnerable. “Will you let me know how you do?” 

Zelda took another lazy drag of her cigarette. “If you insist, Hilda,” she sighed on her exhale.

Hilda smiled up at Zelda and nodded. “I do, Zelda,” she said and was very pleased with the faux-annoyed eye roll she got in response.

As they arrived at The Academy, Zelda departed to find her group of upperclassmen. Edward walked the halls with Hilda for a bit before he, too, left her to chat with a professor. An absent minded, “Anon, sister,” was all Hilda got from him as he rushed off. 

Hilda sighed and made her way toward her first class. She’d be a bit early, but she didn’t mind. She thought she might go over some notes. She’d just settled down in her preferred seat in the empty classroom when Shirley Jackson walked in. Her usual tag-along pair of girls was absent, for once. 

“Hilda,” she drawled, “fancy seeing you here.” 

Hilda looked up and gave her a polite smile, “Well, we do have this class together every Monday morning, Shirley. Not sure what you expected.” 

“Of course,” Shirley said with a small laugh. 

There was something in her tone that Hilda couldn’t quite decipher. It made her a bit uncomfortable. 

“So,” Shirley said, finally taking a seat next to Hilda, even though her usual seat was on the other side of the room. She leaned in closer to Hilda. “Did you hear about what Tasha got up to on Saturday night?” 

“No, I went home with Zelda and Edward. Tasha Banes? What happened?” Hilda said, turning toward Shirley and abandoning her notes on hexes. 

“You’ll never believe it,” Shirley said and then she was off, enthusiastically filling Hilda in on all the weekend gossip that she and her siblings had missed. 

The morning passed, Hilda’s assignments for the week began to fill up her planner and by lunchtime, Hilda was glad of the break from academics. She ate her lunch, sitting with Shirley and the other girls in her year. As she ate, Hilda kept an eye out for her sister, as she always did, but Zelda seemed not to be taking her lunch in the dining hall, as far as Hilda could tell. Hilda took her time and hung back when her classmates got up to clear their plates since she had a free period next. 

She had just put her plate away when she felt a presence behind her in the secluded corner of the dining hall. She turned around and jumped to see Zelda standing very close to her. She was beaming, with a piece of parchment held in her hands. Hilda was surprised to see Zelda smiling so brightly, but found herself mirroring the expression on her sister’s face. 

“Look!” Zelda said breathlessly, holding the parchment out to Hilda. Hilda took it carefully and looked it over. At the top, in blood red ink, was a large “86%” circled and underlined. 

“Zelda,” Hilda said in wonderment, “is this your test?” 

Zelda nodded, still beaming, looking like she was about to burst with excitement. 

“This is amazing, Zelds! I knew you could do it!” 

And then, suddenly, as if she simply couldn’t hold it in any longer, Zelda was hugging her, squeezing Hilda tightly around the middle. Hilda hugged Zelda back, her heart suddenly in her throat because of this rare display of affection. The fact that she could feel Zelda’s breasts pressing against her own had nothing to do with it. Probably. Hilda only had time to breathe in the scent of Zelda’s hair before Zelda was pulling back, letting her hands rest on Hilda’s waist. Hilda’s hands went to the tops of Zelda’s arms and she gave them a little squeeze. Zelda’s energy was infectious and Hilda’s head felt light and dizzy.

“Now it’s time to focus on you, sister,” Zelda said in an excited, low voice. 

“M-me?” Hilda stammered, having a hard time thinking while Zelda was so close to her and so intoxicating. 

“Of course, you ninny,” Zelda said, fondly exasperated. She then lowered her voice and leaned in closer to Hilda. Hilda’s breath caught in her throat. “Meet me in your dormitory after classes today. It’s time for  _ your _ lessons, Hildie.” And then, without warning, Zelda swooped in and pressed a kiss to Hilda’s cheek. Then she was gone in a dizzying whirl of dark silk. 

Hilda stood still, Zelda’s returned test still clutched in one hand. She was in a daze. When was the last time Zelda had been so close to her? When was the last time Hilda had seen her so giddy and carefree? Happiness had never come easily to Zelda, even as a child, and Hilda smiled to think that Zelda had wanted to share it with her. Hilda’s fingers drifted to her cheek where Zelda’s lips had touched her skin. Finally, she moved, glad that this encounter had happened in a removed corner of the dining hall; it was so close to the end of the lunch period that most of the students had already made their way to their next class. 

In a daze, Hilda left the dining hall and made her way to the library. She had proofs to write for her Sacred Geometry class, but she couldn’t concentrate properly. She kept imagining Zelda’s beaming face as she had proudly shown Hilda her test. Hilda realized she was smiling again and shook her head, trying to dislodge any overly-affectionate thoughts about Zelda that might be trying to take up residence in her brain. Later that afternoon, she and Zelda would be… Well, Hilda wasn’t exactly sure what Zelda’s lesson plan included, but she assumed they would be talking, at the very least, about flirting. Hilda needed to be sure that Zelda would not be able to detect anything other than sisterly love and admiration from Hilda. Hilda dreaded to think what Zelda would do to her if she made her feelings toward Zelda known. It wasn’t unheard of for siblings to satisfy their lust together, but as witching populations shrank, it was becoming more and more frowned upon. Hilda wasn’t exactly sure where Zelda stood on the matter, but the very thought of Zelda knowing Hilda’s secret made Hilda’s palms start to sweat.

Thankfully, Zelda had always been rather self-absorbed in Hilda’s experience. If Hilda had managed to hide her little crush for this long, she figured she could probably make it through another afternoon.

  
  
  



End file.
